The basics
What it is
The most common kind is allergic rhinitis — also called hay fever. VA describes it as an allergic
reaction in the nose and airway, and lists it among conditions associated with military environmental
exposures.
VA's own symptom list: sneezing; a runny or stuffy nose; itching of the eyes, nose and mouth;
post-nasal drip; cough; irritability; and fatigue.
Allergic rhinitis is not the only kind. Bacterial rhinitis and granulomatous rhinitis are separate
medical conditions, and VA rates them under separate codes — codes that can pay a lot more than the one
most flyers show you. I cover all three below.
★ Know which kind you have. It changes the rating.
DC 6522
How VA rates allergic or vasomotor rhinitis
38 CFR 4.97, Diagnostic Code 6522 — this code only. Other kinds of rhinitis are rated
under different codes, further down this page.
Symptoms do not drive this rating. Under DC 6522 the rating turns on two things only: how much
the nasal passage is obstructed, measured on each side, and whether polyps are present. Severe daily
sneezing, congestion, and postnasal drip with under 50% obstruction and no polyps still rates 0%. Make
sure your examiner measures obstruction on both sides separately and states in writing whether
polyps are present.
★ Get both numbers on paper: obstruction, and the polyps answer.
Don't stop at 30%
Other rhinitis codes pay more
If your rhinitis is bacterial or granulomatous, not allergic, a different code applies —
and it can pay far above the 30% cap on DC 6522.
- DC 6523, bacterial rhinitis — 10%, or 50% for rhinoscleroma.
- DC 6524, granulomatous rhinitis — 20%, or 100% for Wegener's granulomatosis or lethal
midline granuloma.
Ask your provider, in plain words, which kind of rhinitis your chart says you have. A veteran who
assumes 30% is the ceiling never files under the code that pays 100%.
★ The name on your diagnosis decides the code.
Easy to miss
Two more ratings people leave on the table
- Loss of smell or taste. If rhinitis or nasal polyps have cost you your sense of smell or
taste, that is a separate 10% rating — 38 CFR 4.87a, DC 6275 for smell, DC 6276 for taste. It is
outside the respiratory schedule and not capped by the 30% under DC 6522. Limit: VA will only assign it
if the examiner documents an anatomical or pathological cause. "I can't smell anything" on its own will
not get it — ask the examiner to document why.
- Sinusitis. Rated separately, under its own codes, DC 6510–6514, and rhinitis and sinusitis
often occur together. Under 38 CFR 4.96(a), VA's rule against combining ratings applies only to codes
6600–6817 and 6822–6847 — DC 6522 falls outside that range, so a rhinitis rating and a sinusitis rating
CAN both be paid. The limit is 38 CFR 4.14: VA will not pay twice for the same symptom, so your
sinusitis claim needs its own evidence — incapacitating episodes, antibiotic courses, headaches, and
purulent discharge — not the same congestion already paid under DC 6522.
★ Ask about smell, taste, and sinusitis as their own claims.
PACT Act
Chronic rhinitis can skip the hardest fight
Chronic rhinitis is a PACT Act presumptive condition for burn pit and particulate matter exposure. If
you served on or after 11 Sep 2001 in Afghanistan, Djibouti, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria,
Uzbekistan, or Yemen — or the airspace above — or on or after 2 Aug 1990 in Bahrain, Iraq,
Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, the UAE, or the airspace above, the Arabian Sea, Gulf of
Aden, Gulf of Oman, Persian Gulf, Red Sea, or the Iraq/Saudi Arabia neutral zone, VA presumes the
connection. You do not have to prove a nexus.
See VA's presumptive locations and dates — chronic sinusitis carries the same presumption.
★ Served there, in that window? You don't have to prove the connection.
If you're denied
Filing and appeal basics
File the initial claim on VA Form 21-526EZ. If it's denied, you have three lanes.
- Higher-Level Review — VA Form 20-0996, within 1 year. Not available for a contested claim;
those go to the Board only, on a 60-day clock.
- Board Appeal — VA Form 10182, within 1 year.
- Supplemental Claim — VA Form 20-0995. No deadline to file it. But file within 1 year of the
decision to protect your effective date. Under 38 CFR 3.2500, filing later means VA can only pay back
to the date it receives the Supplemental Claim, not to your original claim date. A Supplemental Claim
is the right lane once you get a new exam documenting obstruction or polyps that the first exam
missed.
Representation. An accredited VSO representative is free. An accredited attorney or claims
agent may charge a fee, but only after VA issues its initial decision — up to 20% of past-due benefits
is presumed reasonable under 38 CFR 14.636.
★ A Supplemental Claim never expires. Wait past a year and you still win — you just lose the back pay.